Do you ever have a problem sending files to a colleague or friend because they are too big to be sent as email attachments? If so, you could use Dropbox’s Public Link feature. In a previous Tech Tip I spoke about the convenience of Dropbox’s files sharing services. Most of these services require each person on your team to have their own Dropbox account. Conveniently, Dropbox’s Public Link feature does not require that everybody have a Dropbox account. Thus, it’s a great way to share large files with friends or family. Here are some step-by-step instructions.

Note: These instructions already assume you’ve signed up for a Dropbox account and have that setup and working on your Mac.

Tip: I often use this method to share a handful of files, like photos. Since I want to only send one Public Link, I’ll put all of the photos into a folder on my Mac, then right-click (or control-click) on the folder and select Compress <folder name> (on older versions of Mac OS X, the command will read “Archive <folder name>”). This compressing will create a .zip file. I then put the .zip file into my Public Folder in Dropbox.

1. Open your Dropbox folder.

2. Open the Public folder.

3. Put the large file into your Public folder. This will trigger the automatic upload of this file onto the Dropbox server.

4. Right-click (or control-click) on the filename of this large file. A menu will appears. Select Dropbox from the menu, then select Copy Public Link from the sub-menu.

5. Open your email application and compose a new email message. Address it to your intended recipient.

7. Go to the Edit menu and select Paste to past the Public Link into the email message. The link will look similar to this:

8. Send the email.

9. The recipient can simply click on the link to download the file.

If you chose to sign up for Dropbox please consider using this link to do so, since I’ll earn a referral bonus. Thanks.

Here are instructions on how to restore one or more files from your CrashPlan online backup archive. The instructions work for both CrashPlan and CrashPlan Pro. In my opinion, an untested backup system is next to useless. Only by testing it do you know for sure that your backup system is working properly. By testing it, you also learn how to restore a file, which will enable you to be a bit more calm in the event of an actual disaster.

If you’re a visual learner, you might like to watch my video demonstration of how to preform a restore from CrashPlan.

• Open the CrashPlan (or CrashPlan Pro) application by clicking on its icon on your Dock or in your Applications folder.
• On the left-hand side you’ll see five sections. Click on Restore.
• You’ll see the CrashPlan Central Destination listed at the top, as well as the time of the most recent backup. If you want to restore from a backup other than the most recent backup, click the words “most recent” which appear at the bottom of the window. From the calendar that appears, select a previous date and time then click “Ok.”
• Next, select the files or folders you want to restore by inserting a checkmark in the checkbox to the left of the file’s name. You can either use the search field to locate your file or you can click the arrows to the left of folder names to see the contents of the folder. Using these arrows, you can navigate down several layers of folders to locate the files or folders that you want to see.
• The files will be restored to the Desktop by default. If you prefer, you can click on the word “Desktop” near the bottom of the window to select another location.
• Finally, click the “Restore” button.
• “Restore Status” information will be listed at the bottom of the CrashPlan window. Depending upon how many Kilobytes of data you select, it can take a while for CrashPlan to retrieve the files and send them to your computer. When the restoration is complete the status message will list the time at which that the files were restored to the destination on your Mac.

It’s also possible to restore files from CrashPlan’s web site. This option could be useful if your laptop was stolen or if you’re traveling without your laptop, but need a file. Restoring files from the CrashPlan web site limits you to a maximum of 500 MB.

Apple’s search tool, Spotlight, does not search every folder on your Mac’s hard drive. Apple configures it to skip some folders that it thinks you won’t want to search. For example, Spotlight doesn’t search inside the various Library folders on your Mac. If you’re looking for a font, such as Helvetica, Spotlight won’t find it for you.

I supplement Spotlight with a handy application named Find Any File which truly does search inside of all folders on your Mac. It’s not a fast as Spotlight, but that’s a worthwhile trade-off in my mind. Find Any File’s interface is based on Apple’s Find File which was part of older versions of the Mac operating system from the mid-90s, so FindAnyFile’s interface might look familar to long-time Mac users. It’s interface is easy to use, regardless.

It’s important to know that due to Mac OS X’s permission structure when you first open Find Any File it’s only able to search files that you own. If you want to search all files on the hard drive then hold down the Option key while clicking on its Find button. You’ll be asked for an administrator password and then Find Any File will restart with root permissions. This means that it’ll then be able to really find any file on your Mac’s hard drive.